1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for storing heat, which comprises a heat exchanger for cooling immersed in a heat-storing material of the latent heat type in a vessel for storing heat, and the present apparatus for storing heat can be utilized in air conditioners of the heat pump type, heat-storing cooler-heaters, etc.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, an apparatus of the latent heat type for storing heat has a vessel for storing heat, which is filled with a heat-storing material of the latent heat type, for example, calcium chloride hexahydrate (CaCl.sub.2.6H.sub.2 O, melting point 28.degree. C.) and provided therein with a heat exchanger for recovering heat or storing heat. For example, when the heat possessed by a heat-storing material is recovered to heat rooms, the liquid heat-storing material reaches the solification point, and crystals of the heat-storing material deposit on the periphery of the heat exchanger. Resistance to heat transfer increases with increasing thickness of deposited crystal layer, and a heat exchange capacity is considerably reduced.
To prevent such a reduction, the flow of the heat transfer medium through the heat transfer exchanger is occasionally discontinued, or a heat transfer medium of a higher temperature is occasionally passed through the heat exchanger to release the deposited crystals of heat-storing material. However, the deposited crystals of heat-storing material melt concentrically around the heat exchanger even according to the above-mentioned procedure, and thus are very hard to release from the periphery of heat exchanger.
To solve the problem, flange-like partition plates are provided at appropriate positions along the entire length of the pipe of heat exchanger to partition the longitudinal direction of the pipe, and radial fin-like partition plates are provided along the entire length of the pipe of heat exchanger to partition the peripheral direction of the pipe, thereby allowing the deposited crystals of heat-storing material to be readily released in a divided manner from the pipe. However, according to such a structure, the crystals of heat-storing material released from the vessel for storing heat, and the space factor of the released crystals of heat-storing material is deteriorated thereby, and there remains inevitably some effectively less utilizable liquid heat-storing material, necessitating use of an apparatus with a larger dimension. Since the partition plates must be provided along the entire length of the pipe, many partition plates, particularly many fin-type partition plates, are required for the release. When a heat-storing material having a relatively small heat conductivity such as calcium chloride hexahydrate is used, that is, when a heat-storing material with a higher fin efficiency is used, the crystals of heat-storing material will deposit on the entire surfaces of the pipes and the partition plates, but the deposited crystals of heat-storing material melt only around the heat exchanger and cannot be released therefrom in a divided manner, even if it is tried to release the deposited crystals of heat-storing material.